France began charging non-EU visitors to the Louvre Museum 45% more than people with either European citizenship or residency on Wednesday.ย
Louvre tickets for individual visitors who are not either citizens or residents of EU member statesย โ or ofย Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norwayย โ now cost โฌ32 (roughly $37.50), rather than the former flat fare of โฌ22.ย
Other state-owned cultural sites hiking prices for non-European visitors include the Versailles Palace and national opera house in Paris, and the Chambord Palace in the Loire region.ย
The ‘dual pricing’ debate reaches Europe
The move is one of Europe’s most severe implementations of what’s known as “dual pricing,” when visitors are charged differing rates depending on their origins.ย
The practice is common in many developing countries, where often less affluent locals can visit cultural sites at lower prices than tourists.
But until now it has been a rarity in wealthier regions like Europe. The move has attracted criticism inside France for being discriminatory and potentially making it harder for low-income foreign visitors to go to the home of the Mona Lisa and other cultural treasures.
The French AFP news agency spoke to several visitors to the Paris museum on Wednesday, with some voicing no objections and others questioning the new price.ย
“If I go to India, people from India pay less than people from abroad โย it’s fair because they have less money,” Marcia Branco from Brazil told AFP. “But because I’m in Paris and it’s supposed to be a rich country I think it’s not fair.”
France seeking revenues for renovations
The French government has defended the two-tier pricing system, saying it would help raise an extra โฌ20-30 million annually for the museum, which is in need of renovation and suffered a major break-in last October targeting the crown jewels.ย
The speed and efficacy of the heist, perpetrated in broad daylight, has prompted severe scrutiny of potential security shortfalls at the institution.ย
Of the 8.7 million visitors the Louvre welcomed in 2024, according to museum data, 23% were French and 13% localsย from the Paris area and its environs. Almost two-thirds of French visitors were granted free admission.
Admission is free for minors from anywhere in the world, and for any French national under the age of 26. Groups of up to 20 booking guided tours in bulk also get a modest per-head discount.
US citizens were the largest foreign national group in 2024, at 13%, while large European countries like the UK, Germany, Italy accounted for 5% each, and China was a fast-growing contingent at 6%.ย
The museum’s renowned collection hails from all over the world, including many exhibits from Egypt, the Middle East or Africa, and opponents to the new prices argue that the collection holds universal cultural value.
Staff and unions resist
Trade unions at the Louvre have denounced the policy, calling it “shocking philosophically, socially and on a human level.” They have cited it as one reason for repeated recent strike action, with the most recent walkout taking place earlier this week.ย
Although the unions claim that their objection is purely a point of principle, they also complain that theย “differentiated pricing” means staff will have to check people’sย identity papers to decide on ticket types.ย
One French academic, Patrick Poncet, drew parallels to the Trump administration’s move to increase the cost for foreign tourists visiting US National Parks by $100 as of January 1.ย
Poncet wrote in the Le Monde daily last month that the policy was “symptomatic of the return, as elsewhere in the world, of unabashed nationalism.”ย
Edited by: Louis Oelofse